Morning Redone
by Karianasan
Summary: It's only taken me 7 years and some odd months to re-write Morning Not Like Any Other, So sit back and enjoy! And I hope my writing has improved over these 7 years.
1. Morning Redone

Funny thing about mornings... There was some mysterious power that the sunlight had. It was sneaky, and would look for any way into a darkened room. Casting various beams, the sun sought out the sleeping form inside. With her face turned to the window, the sun had not trouble, hitting its target with pin point accuracy.

Flinching against the sunlight, Velma recoiled from the brightness into a darker part of her own room. Rubbing her eyes, she began to slowly wake up. Letting loose a huge yawn, she squinted against the shadows that was her room.

Shaking the cotton from her head, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. Giving her disheveled hair a scratch, she blinked against the blurry blobs that greeted her eyes. Her room was always a mix of shapes and forms that she had trouble focusing on, which is why she needed such thick glasses. Wanting the world in focus, Velma reached out towards the nearby dresser where she had placed her glasses the night before. But her hand met nothing but the dresser surface.

With her brows furrowing, she patted the dresser a few times, in search for her glasses.

"What the..."

Gripping the edge of the dresser, she brought her face to the edge. With just her eyes and nose peeking over the top, she looked along the surface in order to find the familiar fuzzy look that was her frames. But sadly, it wasn't there. And no matter how many times she looked, her specs were not there.

Pushing off the dresser, she flopped back into bed. Puzzled, she tried to recall the events that happened the night before. She tried to recall if she had done something different, but all her memories pointed to the fact that she had placed it on the dresser before she had turned off the light and went to bed. The same place she always put it. It was very unlike her to misplace her glasses. Everything in her room had a place, just like she liked it... And her glasses always were on her dresser. Unless...

Peering over the edge of her bed, she gave her floor a glance. Biting the inside of her lip, she considered the possibility. But she never was really one to move too much once she was asleep. But maybe something she had been dreaming about, (though nothing she could remember.) had made her lash out and knock her frames off and to the floor. But, it was a possibility.

"Yeah... that must be it..." She grumbled to herself, still not fully awake. And being confused wasn't helping her gather her wits, either. Leaning one way, she fumbled for a second with her lamp. Flinching against the sudden light in her otherwise dark room, she figured she would need the light to help her search the floor. She had enough trouble telling one blurry blob from another, she could use all and any assistance the light could offer her.

Sliding her feet slowly to the floor, she made sure to not put any weight on her feet till she knew that she wasn't stepping on her glasses. With both feet not touching anything but the rug on her floor, she pushed herself off the bedside. Wobbling a bit, she braced herself till the morning dizziness passed. Taking it slower, she moved to a crouch. But no matter how far she tapped her hands, she could not find the missing specs.

"Oh brother, what are the guys going to say when I can't find my own glasses? What a real genius I am."

Standing up, she jumped back in bed with a huff. Placing a hand to her forehead, she tried to figure out what she could have done to have her rims go missing this badly. It wasn't like she had been awake for a long time before, like some nights when she spent hours working on some project. It had been no different than most quiet nights, only falling asleep when she had felt tired. So there was no logical reason she could think of, that would cause the missing glasses.

"Argh!" Throwing her hands towards the ceiling, she tried to vent her frustration. It was aggravating that she could not think were they could be. Letting gravity take over, her arms fell to the side. One arm bounced harmlessly off the bed, but the other came in contact with something.

"Ow!" Velma reacted as her arm hit something solid on the bed, by her pillow. Rubbing the sore spot, she turned her head and squinted in the direction of the object she hit. Rolling over on her stomach, she inched herself with her elbows to get closer to the thing. Poking it, she knew that it wasn't her frames at least. It was more like a small, hand length box that sat there, on the blanket beside her pillow. Seeing that it wasn't something to worry about, she reached over and pulled it towards her. It was a tape recorder...

Turning it over, she examined it for a few seconds, before her hands accidentally pressed the play button on it. Surprising her, the speaker crackled to life!

**"Ah, so you have found the recorder, Mystery Inc... Or should I say, Velma."**

Gasping, Velma was surprised at the voice that was coming out of the recorder. It had a deep quality to it, and the person behind the voice sounded suspicious. There was something in the tone of the voice, which she didn't trust. It reminded her of the many criminals that she had captured in the past...

**"Oh, don't bother to call your 'gang'. You will find that they are busy with their own problems to come to your call. So it would be wise to save your energy for the task at hand. You will be joining them soon enough."**

"Jinkies! Who could this be?"

She continued to squint at the shaking recorder, as her hand trembled as she held it. Her body tensed up upon the bed, gripping the thing in her hand tightly, as her mind tried to think against her own strain. Normally, she would be far calmer in this kind of situation, but without her glasses... she was getting freaked out. And the fact that the voice had said that her friends were in trouble, was more than enough information to set her imagination loose at the possibilities.

**"Listen well, youngest member of Mystery Inc. We are going to play a game, if you want to get your glasses back. You will follow my instructions, and find your various articles of clothing that you love so much. Each hidden piece of clothing will provide you with another clue, which will lead you closer to your goal. I hope you enjoy our 'game', while the rest of the gang occupies themselves with my plan. Mwahahahahaha..."**

Cracking as the voice broke into a maniacal laugh; it lasted only so long before the recorder went silent. Velma's eyes grew wide as her brain thought of a million and one questions, all at once. Rolling over, she found herself staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought. The gang was in danger, and the first thing she should do is leave it to someone better at this, then she was. Costumed villains were one thing, but who ever this was, broke into her room... messed with her stuff and took the gang. This was something for the police to handle. And all this without her glasses, was more then she was able to take.

Shifting her weight, she propped herself up on the bed. She moved towards to try to find her cell phone, hoping that the person on the recorder had not found where she always hid it. (Since she only really took it for a Mystery or when she was traveling further from home.) Letting the recorder drop from her hand, she reached over towards the dresser when something caught her eye.

**"Oh... and don't do anything rash. You might not understand what is going on here. Your first clue is sitting where it always is. Just follow your normal pattern, and you should find it. Inside it you will find the next clue."**

Velma looked in disbelief at her hand. What caught her attention was the fact that her hand was not its normal color. Smeared in something, at closer inspection she noticed it was red and sticky. It looked remarkably like...

"Oh no... Guys..."

Her hands shook even more, thinking about the worst. But with the words that came from the recorder, she knew that the best action was to follow the voice's instructions. She didn't know if they might be watching her, so going for her cell was a bad idea. And he said something about her getting her glasses back, so maybe if she played along, she would be able to solve this in time to rescue the rest of the gang. Chewing her lip for a second, she managed to sort out her mind enough to get to her feet.

_My usual routine..._ She though, mentally was recalling what he had said. "Well, I usually close my door and get dressed..."

Wandering to the door, she found it already closed. She didn't remember closing it, but maybe she had. It was hard to remember as her mind was occupied with other things. But with the door closed, she normally headed over to her wardrobe to get out of her nightgown and into her everyday clothes. Gripping the door, she leaned to one side and slowly opened the doors. Worried that something might jump out of it, she waited a little bit before taking a look inside. But nothing had jumped out. Only the orange blob of her sweater, greeted her glances. Cautiously, she took the hanger from the bar. But when nothing happened, she felt it was safe to pull her sweater from the hanger.

It didn't take long to get her sweater off, and place her nightgown where it had been hanging. But as she reached to put the hanger back on the bar, something fell from her sleeve. She watched as a small white blur fell to the floor. Once the nightgown was put away, Velma used the corner of the wardrobe to help her lean down to pluck the white blob from an otherwise neat floor. Looking from the paper to the sweater in hand, she figured it was better to get a bit dressed before she continued looking for clues.

Pulling the sweater over her head, she adjusted herself inside of it. But something felt amiss. Giving the front of her sweater a rub, the material felt different under her hands. But what the difference was, she couldn't put her finger on it.

_Speaking of finger... my hand..._

Looking to the hand, she noticed that she had rubbed off the red coloration that had been on it. She chided herself for not concentrating enough to remember to clean her hand off for evidence if she needed it, but her mind wasn't helping her as well as she wished. It was occupied with other thoughts that distracted her from doing what she normally did. And without the safety of sight, she was having trouble focusing on more then what was directly in front of her.

Turning back to the white blob she left on the bed, she gave the edge of her sweater a tug downwards. She didn't like to think about being half dressed, searching for her clothes at a time like this. But this was the 'game' they wanted to play. Flipping the fold piece of paper open, she squinted at the words that had been typed upon the paper.

**-Congratulations on finding the next clue, now think of the room you re in, you should know it well since you keep it so neat and organized. Look next to the place of memories stored in boxes for display.-**

"Place of memories... Stored in boxes for display." Murmured the befuddled detective, settling herself on the corner of her own bed to ponder the clue that she was given. Closing her eyes, she tried to push all her nerves aside and focus on the words she was given. Staring at the back of her own eyelids, she took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. Pushing anything unnecessary out of the way, she tried to imagine a chalk board in her mind. Concentrating on the green tones she envisioned, she plucked a piece of chalk and went to work mapping out what she already knew. Talking to herself in her own mind, she let her inner monologue take place and organized the facts in order to unravel the next clue.

"My glasses are missing... The gang is in trouble." Copying her words, she made bullet points in the chalk on the board. But then she remembered that those points were unimportant with solving the clue. So reluctantly, she mentally erased those points and smudged the clean board with a light coating of white. Bring the piece back up, she started again.

"Playing a game. I need to following instructions. Each article of my own clothing will lead me to the next clue... Clues." Opening her own eyes from her mental picture, she looked back at the shape that made up her wardrobe, and the little white piece of paper in her hands. Taking note of them, she then closed her eyes once again. Going back to her brainstorming board.

"If each clue in my clothes. Then the room is where the clues will take place. So the next clue is... Boxed memories."

Clearing her mind, she pushed the board aside in exchange of another train of thought. Drawing lines, she connected each to the other, making up the rough structure of her room's dimensions. Walls, corners, flooring... Adding each into the other like a puzzle piece. With the basic dimensions in place, she needed to focus and add in her own furniture. With her eyes gone, she had to rely on her brain to see what she readily couldn't. Adding in each piece of the decor, she then moved to the various bits and bobs that filled her room. From tucking the hangers and her nightgown into the wardrobe... To the laptop that sat on her desk. Each of her own effects, mentally recalled and put in the right place. Including...

"My photos!"


	2. Second Clue

"My photo's!"

Eyes snapping open, she knew where her next clue was. Using her mental map as a base, she hopped off her bed and moved around it to her destination. While her eyes only brought back blurs and blobs, her mind came through and added in the detail she needed to work around her apprehension. And it paid off, as she arrived to her desk.

Looking down at it, the colors seeped together to make a mishmosh of shapes. But her memory could trace each edge of the picture frames, without the threat of even tipping one over. Eyebrows furrowing, she looked among the photos for her next clue. Squinting against the strain, she made out the shapes but nothing seemed out of place. And even with a mental reflection, she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. But it was hard to see everything, as her blinds were still closed for the most part, and the light on her dresser was only so bright.

Turning towards her windows, she considered trying to open them to aid her search. But the slight draft that she was getting from down below, was a very good argument for not opening them. But without some more light, she would have some difficulty hunting for the next clue. And she really didn't have time to waste.

Covering her eyes suddenly, she mentally chided herself for her own stupidity. With all her struggles, she had totally forgot about the lamp that sat upon her desk for just this occasion.

Shaking her head, she leaned over to click on the light. Flinching in preparation, she noticed that is wasn't as bright as she had thought. Maybe I need to change the bulb. Oh well, it should due for now. She thought, using the glow from the added lamp to aid in her search. But still, she was having trouble finding the little piece of paper she figured she was looking for.

"You think it would be easy to find a little white piece of paper, among... all this... Red light?"

Hesitating in her own thoughts, it dawned on her that everything had a reddish hue to it. But, the bulb that she had in her lamp... wasn't...

"Oh."

Narrowing her eyes, she had been looking in the wrong place.

"_Next_... Next to the place of boxed memories. Not in them."

Chiding herself, she leaned up and lightly tugged on what had been placed around her desk lampshade. She never had a red light, but it had been her skirt placed over the shade to give it that reddish color as the light fought to shine through it. It took a few tugs, but she was able to finally pull the skirt from the light.

With closer examination, the skirt had been pinned a lot skinnier then her waist. She figured that was in order to make sure the skirt stayed where is had been placed. Fiddling with the pin, she tried to find its edge to free the restricted cloth, and instead found her next clue.

At first, she wanted to rip the clue right off and read it then and there. But she had no clue where the clue had been pinned, so she worried that unnecessarily tearing the paper could lead to the message being torn. So she had to rein herself in and calmly finish looking for the end to free her skirt. It was frustrating, and took all her conscious effort. But it had been worth it to extract the message unharmed.

**-Ah, so you found the second clue. As I expected from the one they call a Genius of Mystery Inc. But time is running out. Your next clue is hanging across from where you started.-**

"Across from where I started..." Murmuring to herself, she mulled over the information as she placed on her skirt. Mindful of the adjustment from the pin, she put it on and it still felt odd. Not that it had been altered in any way from being on the lamp, but there was something different about it. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"No time. I'm running out of time. I'll worry about my clothes later. Clue now." She grumbled at herself, trying to keep herself on topic.

"I started asleep. So..." Placing a hand on the side of the bed that was next to her, she pushed off the ground and swung herself onto the bed. She would have to thank Shaggy for showing her that move from his old gymnastics, once she managed to save him.

Flopping into the middle of the bed, she tried to get herself as close to her starting position as she could, without actually crawling back under the covers.

"Ok, so it's across... from my starting position."

Picturing herself laying down, she normally slept pretty much in the middle of the bed, with her head at the top of the bed against the wall. So... The other wall would be across from her 'starting position'. Crossing her legs, she placed her hand around the bottom of her face to support it. Leaning forward, bracing her elbow on her leg, as she stared across the bed to the wall on the other side. Pulling up her mental map, she tried to trace what was over there.

Compared to the side of the room she had her bed on, the opposite wasn't half as cluttered. The two main points, was where that wall meant one side to be her door to the rest of the house. And on the other side of the wall, had a small window that looked out the side of the house. And between them... was really only one thing.

Her closet.

"Hm..." Unable to really see that far with her limited vision, she had to scan the wall for a bit before she noticed something out of place. Craning her neck forward, she tried to stare at the object into clarity. Almost as if she willed it hard enough, she would be able to fix her own lacking sight into one that would work properly. The obscure shape looked almost like a hat, no... more like a bell. Which was not something she wore on a regular basis, if ever. And the harder she strained, the more of a headache she was beginning to get. But in the last ditch blast of concentration, the oddly shaped curves came in to focus enough for her to notice the distinct shape of two objects...

Giving her head a shake, she fought against the bleary eyed feeling that was the result of her endeavor. But she had recognized the objects and moved to retrieve her next clue.

Padding over her carpet, she plucked her knee high socks from their perch upon her closet's door knob. With how the two socks had been placed, they had hung in such a manner to fuse together with her inhibited sight. Making her want to solve the clues all the more, in hopes to regain what she had lost.

Leaning against the door, she braced herself to put on her socks. One went on without any trouble, but the second had something inside of it. Diving a hand inside, she pulled out the next clue.

**-Ah, so the third clue has been found, but their time is growing short. You are only one clue away, from obtaining what you seek... So find it quick! This clue is found by the portal to the stars.-**

"Portal to the stars?"

Forgetting about her second sock, she placed the thumb of her left hand against the middle of her lips. With her mind wandering elsewhere, her vision shifted downwards to stare at the ground by her feet.

"Well, a portal means a doorway, entrance or gate. But what could they mean by portal to the stars?"

Looking to her doorway, it was still closed. And she doubted they meant 'stars' as in people. Like what some people considered her and the gang to be. While being famous, she doubted that this instance of the word 'stars' meant the others. So it had to be more of the literal, sky fairing variety of stars. Eyes growing wide, she knew exactly what they meant!

"Jinkies! They mean my window! I always stargaze out my window and it can be considered a portal."


	3. Fourth Clue

"Jinkies! They mean my window! I always stargaze out my window and it can be considered a portal."

Rushing towards the large window that stretched most of the length of the one wall, it took her only a bit of searching its surface to find the last piece of her outfit. Sitting at the further part of the edge, sat her Mary Janes. Waiting patiently for her to find them. Inside one of the shoes sat the next clue. Plucking the shoes from their perch, she rushed to get them on so she could focus on the clue. But she had forgotten to put on her other sock, so she had to rush to get that on before she could fumble on the other shoe.

_Argh!_

Breathing in, she tried to calm herself. Even though there were plenty of reasons she wanted to rush, she needed to keep a level head in order to get further and help the gang. Their time was running short and she needed to keep focused.

**-Time has run out. This is the last clue. Your usual mannerism to this situation that started this morning shall lead you to your destination. Everything is ready.-**

While she was happy to have found the last clue, the words on it were troubling. The gang s time has run out And she was stuck here muddling about with a clue.

"But what does he mean by my usual mannerism? What started this morning?"

She put a finger to her lips as she though what the clue could mean. Well, what all started this morning was her losing her glasses. Could that be what he meant? But what did she usually do when she lost her glasses.

"Well, I usually get down on my hands and knees and search for them."

So she did just that. Patting her hands around, she felt the floor. She felt just silly doing this, but she remembered the note. She had no time left. Searching for a bit, her hand crossed over something. Grabbing it, she brought it to her face so she could look at it. Gripping it between her fingers, she found that she could grip it with both hands and at a good distance between them and it still not find the end.

"It appears to be a piece of red string. Long piece of string too."

Crawling along, she followed the string. It lead her all the way to the door. Opening the door, she continued to crawl across the floor. She had mixed feelings, her usual feeling of excitement for solving a mystery, but then she was also worrying about everyone. Which had she not been so occupied, she might have wondered about how she hadn't tripped over this string earlier.

As she wound her way following the string, she ended up in the common room where everyone watched TV. As she tugged on the string to follow it, all of sudden the tension gave out. The end of the string was loose and she pulled it towards her. At the end of it were her glasses. She was overjoyed to get her glasses back! Wasting no time, she rushed to get them on. She placed them on her face just in time to get the shock of her life.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELMA!"

Kneeling upon the floor, Velma sat slack jawed at the sight. Decorations and balloons filled every edge of her vision, but what really made her shocked was the joyous looks on the gang as the shouted at her. She been paying attention so much to the string, and trying to get her glasses back, that she didn't notice that she was crawling into her own surprise party. It was all confusing, yet such a happy moment as well. Standing up though choking back her tears, she ran towards the gang.

"Everyone!"

Pulling everyone she could get her hands on into a hug, she clung to them with a death grip. It caught both Daphne and Fred off guard at Velma s reaction; though Scooby didn't mind the attention and showered her will well deserved doggy kisses. Breaking into a nervous yet relieved laugh, she fell to her knees and hugged the affectionate Dane with her worth.

"I thought something had happened to you guys!"

Looking confused down at Velma, Fred s eyebrows furrowed. He really wasn't expecting this kind of thing from Velma. And didn't understand what she meant about something happening to them.

"What, you didn't like our mystery we set up for you?"

"Mystery? But... But... The blood. All those notes... They said they guys were in trouble."

Daphne laughed. Velma looked at her confused.

"Yeah, we would be in trouble if you caught on to our little charade. You don't know how much time we put into occupying you and not letting you know what was going on. Do you know how hard it is to actually surprise you? You re smarter than your own good sometimes you know."

Daphne joked, Fred gave a laugh as well.

"We figured if we took your glasses away and set up a mystery for you to solve, it would give us enough time to pull off setting everything up. We tried to figure out how long it would take you to figure everything out, then cut some of that time off and then use that short amount of time to pull off decorating. I was a few seconds off, but I think everything worked out."

What they were saying made sense, and at their calm posture helped reinforce their safety. Which put her racing heart into a lower gear. So, it seemed that this had been a whole set up by the gang, and they hadn't meant to make her worry as much as they did But then

"Oh.. guys... Thanks... But wait. What about the blood?"

Velma said worried as she clearly remembered the red stuff on the tape recorder. It had felt sticky to her fingers, and she had wished she hadn't whipped it off while she had been hunting for the clues. Though, maybe the evidence was still in her room, she could take them in and show them.

"Blood?"

Daphne and Fred echoed, both looking confused.

"Well, there was blood on the tape recorder. Let me show..."

But Fred had been caught up with his own thoughts and didn't mean to cut her off.

"That's odd..." Fred said thinking. "I sent Shaggy in this morning to put the tape recorder in there. Shaggy?"

Calling down the hallway, he hoped that the beatnik would be able to hear him over what even he would be doing.

"Like, coming Fred."

Just then the lights went out. Velma cringed, thinking the person who left the blood could still be behind something. Her heart jumped a beat, ready to defend the gang from some unknown force. But her attention was drawn to the hallway as a figure started to emerge. Standing there was Shaggy... Holding the biggest cake she had seen! And it was shaped like her!

"Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday dear Velma.. Happy Birthday to you!"

As the gang sung to her, all the tension finally popped as the last clue fell into place, and everything finally made sense. As the song wound down, Scooby held out the last note as Velma came over to the cake and gave the candles a deep breaths worth of exhaling. With the candles blown out, the gang burst into applause and Velma finally smiled.

"Jinkies guy, Thanks! I am so happy you guys went through all this trouble to set something up for me."

Moving over to give her a hug, Daphne was relieved to see the younger woman smiling now. And the twinkle in Velma's eye was finally there, a clue to the Red head that the woman before her had finally solved the mystery and enjoyed the result of it all. Which meant...

"...And I figured out where the 'blood' came from."

Waiting for the reveal, Shaggy placed down the cake and was surprised when Velma came over and gripped one of his hands. Bringing his hand up, she held it up for the rest of the gang to see. It was covered in reddish goo.

"Caught him red handed."

Blushing, Shaggy was embarrassed but he didn't fully understand what she was accusing him of.

"Like, it's the gel frosting. I got a bunch all over me as I was making the shoes, for like' the cake."

With the tension finally broken, the gang bust out into laughter. Even shaggy joined in, though he didn't fully understand why. And it would end up being explained later to him.


	4. The Offender

Coming around the cake, Velma got first dibs on what she wanted to eat. Looking over a cake version of herself, she was surprised at how well Shaggy had managed to depict her in cake form. From her cropped haircut, to her comfortable sweater and skirt combo, and even down to the offending Mary Janes that caused all this stress.

"Those!"

She pointed her awaiting fork at the shoes. She was going to get her own form of tasty revenge on them. Which made Fred laugh.

With the shoes, and a bit of her knee socks as well, claimed by Velma, the gang proceeded to divvy up bit and parts of Velma for the rest of the gang to enjoy. Though Velma didn't try to think of it to deeply, as the rest of the gang chowed down on parts of her.

Corralling Velma to the living room couches, she was herded to her favorite dent on one couch. Her personal spot she had claimed, and had worn a indent into the perfect curve that she loved to sit into. Once sitting, the gang broke apart to retrieve all the hidden presents that had been tucked out of sight.

Fred was first. Knowing that she had been complaining about her computer, he made sure to pay attention to enough of her techno babble to decode that she needed more RAM for it. It took a bit of hunting, but finally he had found the right make and model she needed. Putting it into a necklace box he had gotten, he fooled her into thinking it was something different until she had ripped past the packaging and opened the box to find it's real contents. He also made sure to add a program she had been drooling at whenever they went to the computer store. Which would run a lot smoother, now that she had the extra RAM to handle it.

Shaggy was a lot simpler. He was more for handmade gifts. So he had spent a long time gathering the right kind of materials to hand craft a set of sandals for Velma. Something that was tough enough to go outside, but light enough to pad about the house in. He also included the recipe for the Velma cake, just in case she wanted to make another one in the future. At first she didn't know who else would enjoy eating a cake version of her, but she bet that her parents would get a kick out of it, so she would have to remember that for maybe their anniversary.

Scooby was also down to earth with her present... With a bone that he must have unburied earlier that morning. It still had some dirt still clinging to it. But she smiled and thanked him all the same. It was the thought that counted.

Looking over to the red head, she expected to see a mound of presents waiting to be opened from her. Yet she hadn't moved to gather them. And the confusion was clear on Velma's face, which Daphne could clearly see. Her face breaking open to a smile, she gave the younger woman a laugh.

"You're wondering where my gifts are, aren't you? You're wearing them silly!"

Her eyes widening, Velma looked down at her outfit. Yes, they were the same style that she always wore, but the material was new and not worn in all the right spots she was used too. No wonder they had felt differently when she was putting them on. They had been new, and not her old set that had seen better days.

"You don't know how hard it was not to go get you a whole new wardrobe, but I know you like what you like. So I just got you more of them."

Getting up from where she had been sitting, she made sure to give Daphne a hug for her restraint. She knew it must have been hard for the woman not to give in to temptation. But Christmas would be coming, and she might not fight the urge as much as she did this time.

"Also, that tape recorder is also a gift from us. We thought you might like it to take notes in when you didn't want to carry around your laptop."

Mentioned Fred, letting her know that the offending recorder was also a present. Though Velma would be happy to erase the 'mystery' from its memory.

"Jinkies guys, thanks. This seemed like the worst day, but it really turned out to be the best day! Thanks! Come here!"

Motioning them to come close, she drew them all into another group hug. She had been so happy that it had been all a misunderstanding and the birthday was a great surprise. She didn't know what they had been doing and had really caught her off guard. She gave them credit for that. Since it didn't happen often. They all smiled back as she hugged them, but Fred worn a smile that said a lot more.

"...It's not over yet." He spoke up, moving a bit away from the hug.

"Oh?"

Velma wondered, giving Fred a look. He just smiled and moved away from her and to one side of the room. The room when dark again and this time a screen popped up. Fred stood in front of the screen and made his voice like the one she had heard on the tape.

"**Congratulations Mystery Inc, but you have not gotten away from my clutches yet. Fear the wrath of my... Home Movies!**"

As Fred said the last part he dodged out of the way as Shaggy cued up the first bit of the home movie. Velma's face turned as red as her skirt as she watched the first section play. It was from their case where they proved that there was no vampire. But At the end of that case, since they inadvertently won the battle of the bands, they had to perform, with Velma front and center in a rather outrageous outfit. Velma tried to scramble away in embarrassment but Daphne pulled her back. Settling her down for a long series of embarrassing moments of Velma Dinkley!

"Guys... Nooo..."


End file.
